Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: growing

10...yes, TEN more pictures in notes above! ENJOY THE SHOW!! :D I can't believe how much fun I've been having raising caterpillars from eggs! To bring you up to date, I brought a small twig into the house on July 25, which had some eggs on it. I discovered that they were from Clio Tiger Moths after finding one laying eggs exactly like the ones I had. Although the stick was literally only a tiny fraction of the number I found, I was amazed when the eggs hatched and there were so many itty bitty caterpillars crawling around! They were so small I could just barely see them! I got them some milkweed leaves to eat, and every day since I've been bringing them fresh leaves and keeping their habitat clean and increasing the size of their container as they've grown. (You can read the original story of the caterpillars here: Piggy 'Pillar!! ) Now, I have read that caterpillars grow fast, but I've never raised them before now, and I have to tell you: it's absolutely AMAZING how fast they grow!!! In one month's time, they have grown from about 1/16" in size to about 1.5" for the largest ones!! It's just incredible to me! In order to get that huge so quickly, all they do during the night is eat, and they sleep all day like a bunch of gluttenous oinkers! :D Today I wanted to show one of the big ones next to a quarter so you can see how huge they've become! At last count, I have about 50 of them, which is surprising because only about 5 of them have died. As I'm sure you probably know, the reason so many eggs are layed is because the survival rate is extremely low, so with the huge number of offspring, at least a few may make it to adulthood. We'll see how many live until pupal stage, but I will bet it will be at least 40. The largest are getting close to pupal stage, and I just can't wait to watch that show!! STAY TUNED!!! I added a bit of texture to the background from Jerry Jones , using his Fire Damage 10-21-09 TOTD # 87 image for the edging! THANKS JERRY!! :) George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. Wikipedia: Orson Welles Explored on August 27, 2013. Highest position, page 3 (#65).

2 more pictures in notes above! :) Here you can see just how HUGE these caterpillars are getting! But as they grow, their hair styles change! I think this version is especially fancy and spectacular, don't you?! :D Did you know that caterpillars molt as they grow? These caterpillars leave behind tiny, fluffy "pompadours", and as they grow larger, the "pompadours" get larger too! My husband thinks that I may be certifiably insane because I can't bear to throw away the fluffy little "wigs"...so, one of these days you will all get to see my collection of tiny little caterpillar "wigs"! :D :D They look like miniature Tribbles! :D

1 picture above in a link! :D This guy really would like to get back to bed and isn't interested in helping me out with size comparisons! But isn't he adorable?!! :D I added a bit of texture to the background from Jerry Jones , using his Netherworld TOTD # 128 image! THANKS JERRY!! :)

It was pretty funny trying to keep this guy near the quarter. He kept crawling away, and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep! :D Poor fellow, I made sure to tuck him back in with his buddies after this picture! :)

6 more pictures in notes above! :) A couple of weeks ago, I shared some pictures of some caterpillar eggs I discovered, and then I found some beautiful Tiger moths which appear to be the ones who laid the eggs. I decided to bring a 2-inch-long section of eggs home with me, leaving behind almost all of the eggs just in case they didn't hatch indoors. I put them in a plastic container with hole-pricked plastic wrap and waited. And waited. I worried if I had done a bad thing, but hoped they would be ok. A week later, at 3 in the morning, I woke up in a panic! "OH NO!! WHAT IF MY LITTLE BUDDIES HATCHED AND DIED!!!" I turned on the light in the kitchen and after being blinded for a minute, I thought that I could hear music playing from inside the container. "WHAT THE???" I asked myself, and I looked into the container... (Play this in the background while you read! :D Kool & The Gang: Celebration ) "There's a party goin' on right here A celebration to last throughout the years So bring your good times and your laughter too We gonna celebrate your party with you"... Why, the place was CRAWLING with little fuzzy wuzzies!! They were everywhere! On the floor, on the sides and the plastic wrap ceiling too! ...and they had NO FOOD. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I pulled on some clothes (can't go running out in the meadow in my skivvies after all!) and ran outside and into our smaller meadow to the Milkweed patch there, plucked a few leaves, and zoomed back. I pinched the leaves into smaller pieces and placed them into the container, coaxed a few towards the munchies...and as I sat gasping for breath, I watched my tiny charges. Because I am blessed with extremely good close-up vision, I was able to watch these 1/16" caterpillars as they noticed the milkweed and then...nibble nibble nibble, munch munch munch...HOORAY!!!! They were EATING!!!!! Once I could see that they were making their way to the tasty goodness, I dribbled a few droplets of water inside, covered them back up and went back to bed. The next morning I got up and took a peek Every single caterpillar--about 50 I'd say--had found its way onto the leaves! There were munched holes and little lines of eating all over! I was overjoyed. That was nearly two weeks ago. The caterpillars are eating like little piggies and I bring them new leaves every day. They are probably about 1/4" in size now and as you can see, their latest hairstyle is extremely fancy and enviable! :D I will be moving them into a larger container tomorrow because they're outgrowing the tiny plastic box I had for them! The OINKERS! :D This project has been such fun for me. I've never raised caterpillars before and it's something I've wanted to try for years. I would like to thank Dean Morley and all of you who encouraged me to try raising these little guys. It's so exciting to see them getting bigger every day! I'll be posting updates with new developments as they occur! :)

This is half of the tomato I sliced up today. I put this tomato into ham, avocado and onion sandwich with mayonnaise and mustard on toasted torta rolls! They were absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!!! Isn't this a beautiful pattern?! I just love how pretty these tomatoes are! :)

6 more pictures in notes above! :) Every May, Steve and I go to the Jackson County Master Gardener's Fair, where people go to buy endless varieties of flowers and plants, and most especially, TOMATOES! By far, the most popular items sold at this huge plant sale are tomatoes...thousands upon thousands of seedlings and young plants of a dizzying variety are carted off by hordes of happy gardeners. If you don't know much about tomatoes, it will surprise you to discover that there are more than a few types of tomatoes. In fact, there are literally HUNDREDS of varieties, and just like wine, tomatoes vary greatly in flavor and characteristics. We picked out 4 types this year: Cherokee Purple Heirloom, Black Russian Heirloom, Sweet 100 Cherry, and the amazing variety shown here, the savory, mouth-watering Green Zebra. The Green Zebra tomato is yellow with beautiful green stripes when ripe. It's an oblong-round, 2.5" diameter tomato which has a unique, savory flavor that is slightly sweet, and will turn any sandwich into the very best you've ever had! Steve and I are CRAZY about this tomato, as it's unlike any we've ever had and we insist on growing it every year if we can find one for sale before they're all bought by rabid tomato junkies. When sun-dried, Green Zebras impart a delicious flavor to anything its added to, and provides a zing of deliciousness if popped into your mouth as a crunchy snack! Lewis McDonald Grizzard, Jr. (October 20, 1946 – March 20, 1994) was an American writer and humorist, known for his Southern demeanor and commentary on the American South. Although he spent his early career as a newspaper sports writer and editor, becoming the sports editor of the Atlanta Journal at age 23, he is much better known for his humorous newspaper columns in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a popular stand-up comedian & lecturer. Wikipedia: Lewis McDonald Grizzard, Jr.

When I went out to take pictures of the smoky conditions, it occurred to me that I should take a picture of some Green Zebras on the plant for you to see! :) This picture shows a tomato that's one or two days from being ready to pick. The lower tomato will be another week. This plant is doing really well and has about 15 tomatoes growing right now...HOORAY!!!!! :D *drools in anticipation*

[best appreciated at full size against black] How many of us have seen an acorn? I bet you've had lots of fun picking them up from the ground, pulling them off trees, examining their cute little hats and throwing them at your friends! But...have you ever seen one that's GROWING?!!!! I was down in our granite valley one day, testing out our ring flash and looking for cool stuff to take pictures of, when I looked down and saw something on the moss. At first I thought maybe it was an odd pebble...but looking closer, I saw what it was! A sprouting acorn with an exposed root that was trying to work its way into the ground! AMAZING! I've seen thousands of acorns...but never have I seen one that was sprouting! If you would like to know more about acorns, Wikipedia has a whole page devoted to them! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn This image was taken in Janurary, 2012.

One day I was taking some pictures of mushrooms and noticed something odd in the background. Leaning closer and lifting a leaf to get a better view, this is what I saw! Some day this little sprout might be a 30-foot Oak tree, dropping acorns of its own for another generation to follow!